“WE lost a dear friend and learned a brutal lesson - that there are some very sick people in the world.”

These are the poignant words of Emma Winter - one of the two surviving victims of the stabbing at Hall Garth School in Middlesbrough, which claimed the life of 12-year-old Nikki Conroy in 1994.

Emma has now chosen to speak for the first time since the horrific events of 17 years ago, on the week of what would have been classmate Nikki’s 30th birthday.

“I’ll be honest with you - there are some things I’m just not going to talk about,” says Emma, now 30, living and working in London.

And her cautious approach is understandable. What started as an ordinary school day on March 28 would culminate in a masked man brutally stabbing her and her two friends in their maths class.

Emma survived and is now a model and art director. She said: “I chose not to dwell on the sadness and live in fear, but to live life to the fullest, something I am very thankful for. And by doing so the spirit of a very special young girl can live on in our hearts.”

After leaving Acklam’s Hall Garth School, Emma studied at Cleveland College of Art and Design and then Northumbria University.

Emma, daughter of former Premiership referee and football pundit Jeff Winter, said: “I also began modelling at 15 and have been working in the UK and abroad ever since. After uni I moved to Manchester. I returned to live in Middlesbrough for a couple of years and commuted to Manchester and London.”

Then followed a few years in Cheshire, a spell as an art director in Cape Town, South Africa, before she moved to London permanently five years ago.

“I moved away from Teesside simply as my career - and my sense of adventure - led me away really,” said Emma, who has just finished modelling in the Vivienne Westwood TKMaxx campaign for Comic Relief.

She added: “Modelling has always been a great deal of fun but my real passion lies in my creative works.”

And it’s easy to see why.

Her installations at the Old Vic Tunnels in London are spectacular.

“I now predominantly work as an artistic director and installation artist and I am currently art directing an experiential event for Irresistible films and have just been made artistic director of a new show experience in the heart of the West End due to open September.”

Over the last year she has also been working with fashion photographer Amir Saediani on his new film projects and has provided art direction for Winterwell and Secret Garden Party Festivals.

But while Emma’s success is something dad Jeff is proud of, he is keen that Nikki is not forgotten.

“For me, it’s all held in the balance of thinking about what might have been,” said Jeff, 56.

“I can’t help but feel proud of my daughter - and all my kids - but in the background there’s always the thought of Nikki and her family.

“My daughter gets to live and move forward with her life - but another girl - in the same class died. I can’t ever get away from that - probably we shouldn’t.”

Jeff was in the dressing room at Ayresome Park with Boro players when he received phone calls telling him to get to the school.

“Because of who I was, the media started making it about Emma so I did try and shield her from all of that. But you have to understand, we were all on this emotional rollercoaster,” he said.

“It was me who had to break the news to my daughter, in the hospital, that Nikki had died.

“It was the most intense range of emotions I have ever experienced in a short space of time - and I hope to God I never have to go through anything like it ever again.

“But just saying that seems wrong - because I was dealing with fear then ultimately relief.

“Emma’s physical scars were short-lived and quite insignificant in the grand scheme of things - although the emotional ones last a lot longer.

“But Nikki’s family had to cope with the loss of their daughter.”

Emma, who still has close friends and family in Middlesbrough, admits it had a lasting effect on her. But she said: “I really don’t want to dwell on anything negative. It was an incredibly challenging time for all of the other students, teachers, families, friends and community. We all had to deal with something so horrific and, on top of that, the effects of the media coverage which served as a constant reminder while at school.”

Gazette photographer Doug Moody captured the tragic drama as it unfolded - and his pictures were quickly shown in newspapers nationwide - as the shock news of the killing spread across the world.

Emma added: “Some of the most poignant memories I have after Nikki’s death is from when I was at school, when the whole community really came together and looked out for one another.

“Having a strong support network of loving people around you is what helps overcome any trauma.”

Jeff added: “There was more than my daughter made a victim that day. Nikki died and Michelle Reeve was attacked too - and the rest of the school kind of had to mature overnight.

“It’s incredible to think that something so horrific happened to such a young girl - and impacted the lives of really what was a group of children. How they coped - and how the teachers, who were very hands on, coped - was unbelievable.”

A third victim on the day was Michelle Reeve, 13, from Hemlington. Now living away from Teesside, Michelle suffered 15 stab wounds at the hands of killer Stephen Wilkinson.

Wilkinson, of Caversham Road, Middlesbrough, was later convicted of manslaughter with diminished responsibility, and locked up indefinitely in a secure hospital.

Michelle could only watch as Nikki was killed and Emma was stabbed in the back. At the time she told the Gazette: “Someone shouted to get out and I saw my chance and ran down three flights of stairs.

“At the bottom the fresh air hit me and I just collapsed.”

Another friend, Clare Tremayne, 30, has worked hard to keep the memory of Nikki alive.

Clare walked to school with Nikki on the day she died. She said: “There’s a memorial garden in the school which was opened after Nikki died, and a few years after I left I came back and saw that it had become a bit overgrown.

“Since then I’ve always come back and enlisted the help of friends to clear it up in time for the anniversary. I’m delighted to hear about a new library being named in honour of Nikki.

“It wasn’t a good day. It changed everybody. I’m just glad she will be remembered.”

And Nikki’s death continues to have a profound effect on former students of Hall Garth, 17 years on.

A Facebook page has been created and classmates continue to leave floral tributes on her grave at Acklam Cemetery.

One such person is Michelle Quinster.

She said: “I didn’t know Nikki but remember being given yellow ribbons at school to remember her by.

“This year I put yellow ribbons on her grave - for visitors to take. I just think it’s one of those things - you don’t know what you can do but know you need to show your support.”